The Expedition encountered its first reindeer at exactly 10:11 a.m. today, roughly 40 kilometers south of Suomussalmi, where I have rented a rustic lakeside cabin for the night. I spotted the beast just after cresting a forested hill. It was standing by the road staring in my direction. It was raining, but I was so excited I got out my camera anyway. He (I will assume he was he though both sexes have antlers) looked at me, then trotted in my direction. Maybe he thought I was another strange type of reindeer. His rack was huge, and as he eyed me from the forest, and walked about, he bucked his rack against a tree. Was I supposed to do the same thing? The roar of an approaching car scared him back into the woods. That event made up for what had been a second consecutive day of riding in the rain.
I've done a much better job of preparing myself for these liquid onslaughts; lessons have been learned from previous experience. I now have a water-tight system, jacket, rainpants, helmet with hood tucked in. Call it the Mannerheim line of rain defense. So far nothing has gotten in, and I've stayed warm. Last night, I camped at a pretty good spot after doing only 27 miles from Kuhmo. That morning I left late trying to wait out a torrential downpour. I ended up seeking shelter for awhile after 1 mile at the visitor's information center. I encountered the same woman who assured me the previous day I would not be eaten by bears. She showed me the weather forecast for the week. It was horrible. Storms all week, with some clearing on Friday. The main event, another big thunder and lightning storm is due to hit Thursday. I think I've done pretty well to make it here under poor conditions, but I'm feeling much better prepared; you can't go wrong with the Mannerheim line of rain defense! The problem is I really can't stop and enjoy the scenery or even pause very long for lunch. Tomorrow, Wednesday, I plan to head to Hossa, which I think might be a much better place to wait out the big storm. It's another 50 to 60 miles and gets me closer to Lapland and more reindeer. It's also about 2 miles from the Russian border, so I don't want to make any navigation errors.
At least I can now rest comfortably knowing that I don't have to change the name of the Expedition to "Riding with Mosquitoes and other Varmits."
I've done a much better job of preparing myself for these liquid onslaughts; lessons have been learned from previous experience. I now have a water-tight system, jacket, rainpants, helmet with hood tucked in. Call it the Mannerheim line of rain defense. So far nothing has gotten in, and I've stayed warm. Last night, I camped at a pretty good spot after doing only 27 miles from Kuhmo. That morning I left late trying to wait out a torrential downpour. I ended up seeking shelter for awhile after 1 mile at the visitor's information center. I encountered the same woman who assured me the previous day I would not be eaten by bears. She showed me the weather forecast for the week. It was horrible. Storms all week, with some clearing on Friday. The main event, another big thunder and lightning storm is due to hit Thursday. I think I've done pretty well to make it here under poor conditions, but I'm feeling much better prepared; you can't go wrong with the Mannerheim line of rain defense! The problem is I really can't stop and enjoy the scenery or even pause very long for lunch. Tomorrow, Wednesday, I plan to head to Hossa, which I think might be a much better place to wait out the big storm. It's another 50 to 60 miles and gets me closer to Lapland and more reindeer. It's also about 2 miles from the Russian border, so I don't want to make any navigation errors.
At least I can now rest comfortably knowing that I don't have to change the name of the Expedition to "Riding with Mosquitoes and other Varmits."
2 comments:
Hi Bob - The Mannheim rain defense ought to be something you bring back home....can think of occasional applications in the PNW! Can you publish a reindeer picture to the blog?? ~ Bill S
Suomussalmi, location of a great military triumph and textbook example of the successful Finnish warring methods. But you probably know all that already. Should be some good memorials?
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